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Eighth Month, lake level with the banks—
The boundless waters merge with the sky,
Vapors rise from Yunmeng Marsh,
Waves shake the Yueyang City walls.
I want to cross—no boat nor oar.
My quiet life—a shame, Great Sage.
I watch a fisher drop his line:
I envy, all in vain, his fish.
望洞庭湖赠张丞相
八月湖水平，
涵虚混太清。
气蒸云梦泽，
波撼岳阳城。
欲济无舟楫，
端居耻圣明。
坐观垂钓者，
空有羡鱼情。
Tl;dr: I can has job pls? Written in 733 during a visit to Chang’an (where he stayed with Wang Wei) to look for a government post. Spoiler: his plea didn’t work. This is addressed to the same Zhang Jiuling as #119, who was the author of #91. Furthermore, this is the same Yueyang as in #114. Yunmeng (“cloud dream”) was north of the city. Idiom: sky is literally the “great clear(ness).” The address for the prime minister is more literally “enlightened sage,” often used as a flattering title for a ruler or superior.
The boundless waters merge with the sky,
Vapors rise from Yunmeng Marsh,
Waves shake the Yueyang City walls.
I want to cross—no boat nor oar.
My quiet life—a shame, Great Sage.
I watch a fisher drop his line:
I envy, all in vain, his fish.
望洞庭湖赠张丞相
八月湖水平，
涵虚混太清。
气蒸云梦泽，
波撼岳阳城。
欲济无舟楫，
端居耻圣明。
坐观垂钓者，
空有羡鱼情。
Tl;dr: I can has job pls? Written in 733 during a visit to Chang’an (where he stayed with Wang Wei) to look for a government post. Spoiler: his plea didn’t work. This is addressed to the same Zhang Jiuling as #119, who was the author of #91. Furthermore, this is the same Yueyang as in #114. Yunmeng (“cloud dream”) was north of the city. Idiom: sky is literally the “great clear(ness).” The address for the prime minister is more literally “enlightened sage,” often used as a flattering title for a ruler or superior.